Surface conditions proved to be pleasant so we travelled up to the Arkwright Shoals hoping that the water clarity might be suitable. Visibility at the start of the first dive was an agreeable 5m but with the gradual increase in swell, and hence the surge below, the viz gradually dropped during the morning to less than 4m. The dive reel again became the diver's best friend as we searched further away from the anchor line. The first dive was pleasant the second hard work. Three species sighted that are not commonly found were Phyllodesmium koehleri, Thorunna sp. 1 and Trinchesia sp. 3. Also photographed a Gymnodoris alba with the noticeable and characteristic antero-lateral oral lappets. This convinces me that we have without doubt in the past recorded in amongst these some different but cryptic species.

Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count

Julie, Terry and David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 72 minute dive at C Spot in depths 18m to 21m and 1 x 107 minute dive at Forskalli Park in depths 9m to 10.5m. Water temperature varied from 24C at C Spot to a tepid 27C at Forskalli Park whist surprisingly the visibility of 3m in the deeper water improved to 5m in the shallower region. This must be related to the silt load carried by the current experienced out wider. Only a slight surge was evident.

Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Terry and David on this excursion consisting of 1 x 78 minute and 1 x 84 minute dives in water depths from 14m to 17.5mm. The water temperature was 24C on the bottom after dropping from 27C at the 12m mark. Visibility was poor at less than 2m and a slight surge was evident. Apologies for the dearth of good images.

With nearly all of our dives being shore dives right back prior to our Tulamben trip in Oct/Nov we thought we had better reacquaint ourselves with diving from a boat once again. The weather and bar conditions were perfect with the visibility being the only negative factor. Nevertheless we persevered with the use of a dive reel line concentrating mainly on looking for smaller species at the expense of covering the usual amount of territory. Mention should be made of the Pleurolidia juliae. The veracity of this species and Protaeolidiella atra has been in a state of flux for some time now. A new paper just published this month (Jan 2015): Protaeolidiella atra Baba, 1955 versus Pleurolidia juliae Burn, 1966: One or two species?, Carmona, Pola, Gosliner, Cervera, puts to rest all the longstanding confusion in finding that these are two separate and valid species.

Number of each species sighted: 1st dive/2nd dive
* Species with highest specimen count

About the Team

The Team at Nudibranch.com.au consists of Gary Cobb, David Mullins, Julie Schubert and Terry Farr. We spend as much time as we can getting out in our "backyard" searching for and recording Nudibranchs found here on the Sunshine Coast, Australia.